Organizers canceled the Rockesha concert after the first artist Saturday.

The festival, held at the Waukesha County Expo Grounds, advertised Firehouse, Lita Ford, Quiet Riot, Warrant and Eric Martin from Mr. Big as its headliners.

The venue was booked in November and workers with the expo center said the promoter's background did not raise any red flags.

However, festivalgoers got a surprising announcement after only a few songs from the opening act.

As road crews set up for the second act, an announcement was made stating that the shows for the day had been canceled and would be rescheduled.

Eddie Trunk, a VH-1 personality who was tapped as emcee for the event, tweeted "Always give it to you straight so here it is; turn out was poor, promoter lost money & didn't pay bands fully, bands leave show done..."

Rooters Nightclub owner Bill Essex said he's met with the promoter, Rob Lyons, several times and thinks he got in over his head.

"I know it's not easy to promote a big concert like that, and from being out of town, maybe he didn't have quite the handle on the local side of things," Essex said.

Lyons' company, Splat Entertainment, took down its website Monday. Expo Center officials said only two concerts in the past 15 years have canceled, and those were due to severe weather.

The Expo Center said about 35 people bought tickets at the gate, but the promoter needed about 900 people to buy tickets here to help pay for the bands.

Late Monday afternoon, WISN 12 News learned the promoter posted an apology on Facebook saying in part, "I, as the promoter, of this event am entirely responsible. Nobody else had a thing to do with this. What I need to do now is come up with a plan to start reimbursing all of the fans who had their weekends ruined over this."

The Expo Center said it did check references for this promoter and there were no red flags.

Concert goers who paid by credit card or PayPal should contact their credit card companies or PayPal to discuss getting a refund.

ANGRY FANS AND ANGRY BANDS--- AFTER ROCKESHA--- A ROCK CONCERT IN WAUKESHA IS CANCELLED MID SHOW. 12 NEWS FIRST REPORTED THE STORY LAST NIGHT. AS 12 NEWS HILLARY MINTZ REPORTS THEY ARE ALL LOOKING FOR THE PROMOTER. BILL ESSEX SAYS HIS POST-PARTY FOR ROCKESHA AT ROOTERS NIGHT CLUB...STARTED MUCH EARLIER THAN EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT. 14:10:50 THEY GIVE ME A CALL AT HOME, THE EVENT'S CANCELLED THE NEXT THING HE KNOWS....400 PEOPLE SHOW UP AT HIS DOOR... WANTING TO HEAR SOME MUSIC. NATS "ROCKESHA" WAS SLATED TO FEATURE SEVERAL 80'S-ERA BANDS -- INCLUDING FIREHOUSE, QUIET RIOT AND WARRANT. AFTER A FEW SONGS WERE PLAYED FROM THE OPENING ACT, THE CROWD WAS TOLD THE SHOW WAS BEING RESCHEDULED. STAND UP-CLIP 0116 12:33:14 THE EXPO CENTER SAYS ABOUT 35 PEOPLE BOUGHT TICKETS AT THE GATE HERE, BUT THE PROMOTER NEEDED ABOUT 900 PEOPLE TO BUY TICKETS HERE TO HELP PAY FOR THE BANDS24 CLUB OWNER ESSEX SAYS HE'S MET WITH THE PROMOTER ROB LYONS SEVERAL TIMES...AND THINKS HE GOT IN OVER HIS HEAD. 14:12:27 I KNOW IT'S NOT EASY TO PROMOTE A BIG CONCERT LIKE THAT AND FROM BEING OUT OF TOWN, MAYBE HE DIDN'T HAVE QUITE THE HANDLE ON THE LOCAL SIDE OF THINGS34 12 NEWS TRIED TO TALK TO CONTACT HIM ... BY CALLING.... NATS-I'LL GET BACK TO YOU AS SOON AS I CAN, THANKS HAVE A GREAT DAY33 THE MAILBOX IS FULL AND CANNOT AND BY STOPPING BY THREE ADDRESSES IN WAUKESHA, PEWAUKEE. NATS-DOOR KNOCKS LYONS' PARENTS, WHO TOLD US THEY'RE ESTRANGED FROM HIM, DON'T KNOW WHERE HE IS. CLIP 0121 13:50:15 IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR HIM FOR MONEY, GOOD LUCK. SO FOR NOW, THE BANDS AND FANS WAIT ON THE PROMOTER TO MAKE GOOD ON A BAD DEAL. IN WAUKESHA, HILLARY MINTZ WISN 12 NEWS. WITHIN THE HOUR, WE LEARNED THE PROMOTER POSTED AN APOLOGY ON FACEBOOK SAYING IN PART "I AS THE PROMOTER OF THIS EVENT AM ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE, NOBODY ELSE HAD A THING TO DO WITH THIS." "WHAT I NEED TO DO NOW IS COME UP WITH A PLAN TO START REIMBURSING ALL OF THE FANS WHO HAD THEIR WEEKENDS

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